A POTION, A POWDER, A LITTLE BIT OF MAGIC: OR, LIKE LIGHTNING IN AN UMBRELLA STORM, by Philip C. Stead, Neal Porter Books, April 7, 2026, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 10 and up)
A young girl sets out to rescue a special goat in A Potion, A Powder, a Little Bit of Magic: Or, Like Lightning in an Umbrella Storm, by Philip Stead.
In a kingdom ruled by a capricious king, the castle rests on the backs of twenty-four goats, and the welfare of those goats rests on the back of a girl called Bernadette. So when one goat escapes, it’s up to her—with the help of a very forgetful wizard and a Boat That Does Not Grant Wishes—to bring it back safely.
Her task may be straightforward, but this book is anything but. Like a swirling herd of restless goats, the chapters are all out of order. The ending may prove to have been the beginning all along. All the while, the author of Bernadette’s saga—a character himself—hurries to write her a resolution, with very mixed results. And if you’re feeling lost, don’t worry; the story has twenty-four morals, of varying advisability, to edify you along the way. —Synopsis provided by Neal Porter Books
A Potion, A Powder, a Little Bit of Magic is an irreverent adventure that immediately captures you attention and holds it through the end.
The first pages are devoted to black-and-white drawings of the book’s characters. Each one is detailed and really lets you know you’re in for something special. And then, author Philip Stead drops you straight into the story. And by straight in, I mean Chapter 13. Don’t worry, you do get to read Chapters 1-12, it just takes you a little bit to get there. In fact, Stead likes to take the long round about a couple times, adding to the tongue-in-cheek nature of the narrative.
The narrative would be nothing without the quirky characters that grace the pages, and they live up to Stead’s portraits. They’re all delightful and play to the humor laced throughout.
A Potion, A Powder, a Little Bit of Magic is a gem of a book, perfect for fans of Lemony Snickett-style stories. It’s great for individual or group reading.
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